Iffath A. Sharif

GLOBAL DIRECTOR, SOCIAL PROTECTION AND LABOR, WORLD BANK 

Iffath Sharif is the Global Director for Social Protection and Jobs. She was previously the manager of the Human Capital Project supporting the World Bank Group’s global agenda to protect, build and utilize human capital in partnership with countries and development agencies. Prior to this, she held multiple positions in the Africa region as Practice Manager for the Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice, as well as in South Asia as Lead Economist and Human Development Program Leader. Iffath has worked on areas of poverty, adaptive safety nets and public works, early childhood development, microfinance, gender, nutrition, migration, and jobs. She holds a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and a Masters from Princeton University. 

Naria Santa Lucia, S4YE Steering Committee Chair  

GENERAL MANAGER, DIGITAL INCLUSION AND US COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, MICROSOFT PHILANTHROPIES  

Naria works to manage the company’s philanthropic investments and grant programs in digital skills, computer science education, and career pathways investments to drive digital inclusion and employment outcomes for traditionally underrepresented and under-resourced communities. Prior to joining Microsoft Philanthropies, Naria served as Executive Director of the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship (WSOS), a unique public-private partnership helping to build the next generation of scientists, engineers, technology specialists, mathematicians, and healthcare professionals in Washington state’s high-demand employment fields through scholarships and supports for low- and middle-income college students in Washington state. Naria is a graduate of the Law School and the College at the University of Chicago. 

Anita Tiessen  

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, YOUTH BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL 

Anita serves YBI bringing extensive experience working in a range of executive leadership positions in major voluntary sector organizations, most recently as Chief Executive of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). Throughout her tenure, Anita achieved significant progress on WAGGGS’s strategic priorities, including growing the membership, developing fundraising capabilities, and driving digital transformation. Prior to this role, she was Deputy Executive Director at UNICEF UK, where she led the organization’s efforts to protect children’s rights in the UK for 14 years. Anita also worked at Amnesty International’s global headquarters in London and in provincial government in her native country, Canada. 

Christina Sass 

PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, INTERNATIONAL YOUTH FOUNDATION 

Christina Sass is a lifelong champion of youth and a fierce advocate for women and diverse leaders across the globe. She brings a wealth of experience in global development and youth. In 2014, Christina co-founded Andela, an on-ramp to the digital economy for thousands of young technologists across the globe. Christina served as Andela’s COO and President, where she played a pivotal role in scaling Andela to six countries in Africa, selecting, training, and placing developers as full-time team members in growing tech companies around the world. Together with her co-founder, she raised over $181M in venture capital, growing from two people to over 2,000 employees and acquiring 200+ clients, achieving a $50M annual revenue run rate in six years. Today, Andela is the world’s largest private marketplace of skilled technical talent, operating in over 150 countries.  

Prior to Andela, Christina held pivotal positions at renowned organizations dedicated to advancing education and employment opportunities for youth. Notably, she directed the Program department of the Clinton Global Initiative and provided strategic counsel to the President and CEO of The MasterCard Foundation, a $30B global foundation committed to enhancing education and financial inclusion for African youth. 

Cynthia Hansen 

MANAGING DIRECTOR, ADECCO GROUP FOUNDATION  

Following a career in the private and non-profit sectors, Cynthia Hansen joined the Adecco Group in 2017 to start the new Adecco Group Foundation and spearhead social innovation. Cynthia’s areas of expertise include strategy, change management, social impact and partnership. Prior to joining the Adecco Group, she spent nine years at the World Economic Forum in leadership roles across Strategic Partnerships, Professional Services, Financial Services, Civil Society, and Content Strategy. Previous roles include Director of Management Consultancy at boutique consulting firm Action Planning, Director of the US State Department’s International Visitor program for the State of Washington under the World Affairs Council, and Head of Admissions for Amity Institute. Cynthia has served on a number of non-profit boards and advisory bodies. She holds an MSc in Management of NGOs from the London School of Economics and a double BA (Hons) in Asian Studies and English/Literature from the University of Puget Sound. Cynthia was also a Global Leadership Fellow of the World Economic Forum. 

Darleen Opfer 

DIRECTOR, RAND EDUCATION 

Darleen is Vice President for the RAND Education & Labor Research Division and holds the Distinguished Chair in Education Policy. She has conducted numerous research studies for local, state and national governments on issues including recruitment and retention, continuous professional development, and the impacts of policies on professional practice. Her work includes a national study of the recruitment and retention of school leaders in Scotland. Her research also includes national studies of continuing professional development of teachers in Turkey and England. She led the TALIS Video Study of Teaching (also referred to as the Global Teaching Insights Study) for the OECD from 2014 - 2020. In addition to her research, she frequently serves as an advisor to international agencies, including Israel's Ministry of Education, the Institute for Social Science in Zagreb, Croatia, the National Council for Education Research and Training, India, and the Qatar Foundation. She holds a Ph.D. in education policy studies from the University of Virginia and a B.A. in education from Stetson University.  

Domenica Preysing 

SENIOR POLICY OFFICER, FEDERAL MINISTRY FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, GERMANY 

Prior to joining the ministry‘s team of the special initiative on training and job creation, she has been serving in various functions over the past ten years, most recently as in-country head of German Development Cooperation in Togo. She has also worked in the German position within the World Bank. In addition, Domenica knows about the challenge of employment creation from first-hand experience, especially among young women. This is because she managed a social business in Egypt before she went into development policy, research, and consultancy. Domenica holds a PhD in political science, an MPPA with a specialization in emerging economies and an MA in history and politics. 

Dorothea Schmidt-Klau 

DIRECTOR OF EMPLOYMENT, LABOUR MARKETS AND YOUTH, INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION (ILO) 

Before becoming chief of EMPLAB Dorothea Schmidt-Klau was the Head of the Department Management and Coordination Unit of the Employment Policy Department (EMPLOYMENT) of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). In her function she supported the work of the Department to promote full and productive employment by developing integrated employment, development and skills policies. 

Before her current position, she was the Senior Employment Specialist for North Africa, based in the Decent Work Country Team for North Africa in Cairo. She worked with Governments, Employers’, Workers’ Organizations and other key stakeholders providing advice on analytical work, policy development and advocacy on employment related issues. 

Ms. Schmidt has published extensively in the area of family economics during her time as research assistant at the Albert-Ludwigs-University in Freiburg, Germany. Since then, her work continued to have a strong gender focus. Other areas of expertise include poverty reduction, youth employment, ageing societies, employment policies, labour market transitions, labour market information systems and labour market indicators. She has worked on many major ILO publications, including several World Employment Reports, Global Employment Trends Reports and most recently the ILO’s COVID-19 Monitors. She has also published numerous working papers and articles in her areas of expertise. 

Ms. Schmidt-Klau holds a PhD in Economics from Albert-Ludwigs-University in Freiburg. 

Fiona Lukwago  

REGIONAL LEAD CAPACITY BUILDING, MASTERCARD FOUNDATION 

Fiona is a capacity building and private sector development specialist with over 15 years’ experience. She is the Regional Lead for Capacity Building at the Mastercard Foundation. Her role is to strengthen the capacity of institutions that support the growth and scale of organizations/enterprises to deliver, scale and become sustainable as they create jobs for young people. Previously, she was the Enterprise Development Lead at the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF), where she set up AECF’s Advisory Studio to improve the effectiveness and scale of AECF’s capacity-building interventions to investee companies. She managed AECF’s Agribusiness portfolio and set up the Nkwanzi initiative, AECF’s capacity-building facility for women managing businesses in Africa. Before AECF, she worked as Assistant Director and Market Access Lead at Kilimo Trust East Africa where she created regional trade opportunities for value chain actors across East Africa. She started her career as a Program Officer at UNDP – Uganda where she managed multiple inter-donor programs and partnerships. 

Fiona has an MBA (Food & Agribusiness) from Wageningen University—Netherlands, & the Royal Agricultural University in the UK, and a BSc in Food Science and Technology from Makerere University, Uganda. She is a certified Financial Modelling and Valuation Analyst (CFI) and an accredited Leadership Coach and Trainer.  

Ibrahim Elbadawi  

MANAGING DIRECTOR, THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM 

Before joining the ERF, Ibrahim was Director at the Economic Policy & Research Center, the Dubai Economic Council (2009-2016); Lead Economist at the Development Research Group of the World Bank, which he joined in 1989; Research Director of the African Economic Research Consortium (Nairobi, 1993-1998), on external leave from the Bank; and Professor of economics at the University of Gezira in Sudan (1984-1989). He holds a PhD in economics and statistics from North Carolina State and Northwestern universities in the USA. He has published widely on macroeconomics, growth, democratic transitions and the economics of civil wars and post-conflict transitions. His regional specialization covers Africa and the Middle East. 

Jayathma Wickramanayake  

ENVOY ON YOUTH, UNITED NATIONS 

Ms. Jayathma Wickramanayake was appointed as the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth in June 2017 at the age of 26. In this role, Jayathma works to expand the UN’s youth engagement and advocacy efforts across all four pillars of work – sustainable development, human rights, peace and security and humanitarian action – and serves as a representative of and advisor to the Secretary-General. Originally from Sri Lanka, Ms. Wickramanayake has worked extensively on youth development and participation and has played a key role in transforming the youth development sector in her home country. Prior to taking up her post, Ms. Wickramanayake was instrumental in creating the movement for civic and political engagement of young people, especially young women in Sri Lanka named “Hashtag Generation.” 

Jill Huntley 

GLOBAL MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP, ACCENTURE 

Prior to her position as Managing Director for Corporate Citizenship at Accenture, Jill worked in the Talent and Organization practice of Accenture’s Management Consulting business. In 2002, she co-founded Accenture Development Partnerships (ADP), an innovative non-profit venture that channels Accenture’s skills and expertise to the international development sector. She is also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Youth Unemployment. Jill grew up in Southeast Asia and has lived and worked extensively in Europe, North America and Asia. She holds a Master’s degree in Anthropology and Development from Cambridge University and a Graduate Diploma in Psychology. 

Karen Moore 

SENIOR POLICY ANALYST, ECONOMIC GROWTH AND INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, GLOBAL AFFAIRS CANADA 

Karen Moore acts as a lead on unpaid and paid care work, and on jobs, including youth and women's employment. Prior to joining Global Affairs Canada, Karen worked with Mastercard Foundation where she managed a portfolio of youth employment projects and contributed to strategic development, learning outcomes and thought leadership, with a particular focus on youth livelihoods, education and skills (including TVET), and gender. Karen previously worked with Plan International UK as Economic Security Adviser; with the Global Education Monitoring Report at UNESCO; and with the DFID-funded Chronic Poverty Research Centre, based at the Universities of Birmingham and Manchester. She holds BA and MSc degrees in development studies from the University of Toronto and the University of Bath. 

K Suryanarayana (Suri) 

DIRECTOR OF PARTNERSHIPS, NEXT BILLION USERS, GOOGLE PAY, SEA 

Suri is the Director of Partnerships for the Next Billion Users (NBU) team and leads Google Payments for SEA markets. Prior to moving to Singapore to take on the role, he led NBU Partnerships for India. Suri built and scaled the Small and Medium Business Advertiser business for India and led AdSense, the publisher-facing business for India. Between these roles, he also had an opportunity to head up the People Operations function for Google India Business Teams. Before joining Google, Suri worked extensively in the B2B space across Telecom and IT domains for ten plus years where he led Sales, Product, and Marketing teams. 

Mamadou Biteye  

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, THE AFRICAN CAPACITY BUILDING FOUNDATION 

Mamadou Biteye, a seasoned agricultural economist and development expert, is the Executive Secretary of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), the African Union’s specialized agency for capacity development. Mamadou joined ACBF from VISA, where he served as Vice-President, Global Head of Inclusive Growth and before that as Regional Head of Social Impact for the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa Region. Among his achievements at VISA, he collaboratively developed a global financial digital equity and inclusion strategy focused on leveraging VISA products and forging strategic multi-stakeholder partnerships for impact. He also led the development and implementation of global strategy frameworks for financial education and small and micro business support for growth and resilience. He also worked as Managing Director of Africa for the Rockefeller Foundation, overseeing the organization’s work across the continent. This included work on youth employment, health, philanthropy, agriculture, and food security. Mamadou is an Honorary Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE). He holds degrees in Agricultural Economics from Ohio University and The Crimean Agricultural Institute. 

Michael Windisch 

ADVISOR, DIVISION FOR INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, AUSTRIAN FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE 

Michael acts as the Ministry’s desk officer for the World Bank Group after having served as one of the focal points for the African Development Bank Group. Before taking his post as Advisor, Michael worked as a consultant in the Department of Policy Research and Statistics of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). In this capacity, he conducted data analysis and research on issues such as structural transformation, global value chains and Industry 4.0. He holds a master's degree in public economics from Freie Universität Berlin and a bachelor's degree in political science and economics from the University of Vienna.  

Rathin Roy 

MANAGING DIRECTOR, ODI

Rathin’s policy interests and research have mainly focused on fiscal and macroeconomic issues pertinent to human development in developing and emerging economies. He was formerly the Director and CEO of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) in New Delhi. He has previously worked as an Economic Diplomat and Policy Advisor at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with postings in London, New York, Kathmandu and Brasilia. He has also served as an Economic Adviser with the Thirteenth Finance Commission, New Delhi, in the rank of Joint Secretary to the Government of India. Rathin Roy holds a PhD and an M.Phil in Economics from the University of Cambridge, an MA in Economics from the Jawaharlal Nehru University and BA (Hons) in Economics from St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi. He has taught at the Universities of Manchester and London. 

Ved Mani Tiwari 

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER & OFFICIATING CEO NATIONAL SKILL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION 

Ved Mani Tiwari serves as the Chief Operating Officer at National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and is responsible for managing the organization’s operations. A key member of the senior leadership team, Ved plays an integral role in developing and executing NSDC’s strategies to drive skilling operations through Sector Skill Councils (SSC), Training Providers and Industry Engagement. Ved has over 30 years of professional experience where he served the Government of India and worked with the private sector in Infrastructure (Energy, Urban Development, and Transportation). In his previous roles, he has held key managerial positions - as Director, Welspun, Global CEO, Sterlite Power, MD, SunEdison, Director, Ministry of Railways, and Director in Kochi Metro, Chennai Metro and Nagpur Metro.